Murray to miss Grandfather’s funeral to play Davis Cup

Andy Murray will miss his grandfather’s funeral on Friday to play in holders Great Britain’s Davis Cup semi-final opener against Argentina in Glasgow.

Gordon Murray, the father of Andy and Jamie Murray’s father Willie, died last week. Andy missed Thursday’s press conference, reportedly so he could attend a family gathering, but Jamie was present.

Jamie Murray will only play in the doubles rubber on Saturday and will be able to go to the funeral.

At the time Olympic final opponents Andy Murray and Juan Martin Del Potro will resume hostilities in Friday’s opening semi-final singles match.

The duo fought out an intense men’s Olympic final in Rio de Janeiro last month, with Murray eventually prevailing after more than four hours to claim a second successive gold medal.

Thursday’s draw paired them in the opening rubber at Glasgow’s hard-court Emirates Arena, with Kyle Edmund then taking on Guido Pella.

Murray, the world number two, will team up with brother Jamie in Saturday’s doubles, with the Scottish duo looking to make the most of partisan home support against Federico Delbonis and Leonardo Mayer.

Andy Murray will tackle Pella in Sunday’s penultimate singles match before Edmund, who reached the fourth round at the US Open, and world number 64 Del Potro bring the curtain down.

It means Andy Murray is set to be involved on all three days of the tie, despite the 29-year-old having already admitted to fatigue in a season where he as won both the Wimbledon and Olympic singles titles.

But British Davis Cup captain Leon Smith backed his star player’s matchday fitness to come to the fore again.

“We saw last year in the semi-final against Australia, you could see Andy was fatigued and he still found a way to do it,” said Smith.

“He’s a very robust guy, both physically and mentally, so don’t be surprised to see him do it.”

Del Potro followed his run to the Olympic final by getting to the last eight of the US Open.

As for his upcoming encounter with Andy Murray, Del Potro said Thursday: “I will try to do a different match from Rio. It’s going to be really tough but I’m looking forward to do the surprise.

“I will be fresh tomorrow and I know how my level is at this moment. I will try to play aggressive all the time. We’ll see if I can give the first point to my team.”

Britain beat Belgium 3-1 in last year’s final on clay in Ghent to claim a first Davis Cup crown since 1936.

The British team, captained by Smith, overcame Serbia in this year’s quarter-finals, while Daniel Orsanic’s Argentina defeated Italy.

The winners of the Glasgow tie will play either Croatia or France in the final in November.